What does a hotel consultant do?
(a version of this article was first published in the Catering, Licensee & Hotelier magazine.)
OMG! / WHAT THE? / AND MY OPTIONS?
(I can’t use profanities here, even if I WANT to.)
You MUST be wondering what hit you. I know that I am !!!
One minute you have a business, which even then may have been doing very well, or you might have been really struggling like a lot of people and then BOOM … coronavirus bursts onto the scene.
From Friday 20th March 2020 or later if a hotel, you suddenly HAVE NO BUSINESS, you are forcibly closed and yes, admittedly for the good of the nation.
OUCH!!! … It hurts!!!
POINT ONE – YOU ARE NOT ALONE
I have teamed up with CLH to offer a FREE OF CHARGE service to any Hospitality Business that has been affected by coronavirus shutdown issues, and that must be most of them.I am hoping to use my 35 years’ experience as a Hospitality Management Consultant to help as many affected businesses as I can. You could say that I am ‘’on a mission’’.
I have always focused on the smaller (under £5m p.a. turnover) privately owned sector and this is who we are aiming at here. The bigger groups all have their own internal and external help mechanisms. It is the small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not.
So how can I help you?
An ideal way would be for you to pose a query or question by email to me at davidhunter@bowdengroup.co.uk. If I can answer your query by email, I will do so, or I will call you to discuss it further. Please therefore do remember to give me your phone number in your email. If instead you prefer just to give me a call, then do call me on 07831 407984.
POINT TWO – THERE IS GOVERNMENT HELP OUT THERE FOR YOU
Without going into too much detail right here, seemingly the most important help at present includes:
1. The Government covering immediately 80% of the wages of any Furloughed workers albeit it will take some time for that money to start coming though.
NOTE: You MUST have formally Furloughed those workers (in writing) for them to be eligible. If you have not done that already, do that asap.
NOTE: There are some rules that have been imposed about what Furloughed workers may or more specifically MAY NOT do in terms of work while they are furloughed.
2. HELP with delays now allowed in making your VAT payments.
3. HELP with delays now allowed in making other HMRC payments.
4. HELP with reduction in your Rates bills which probably differs by council.
5. HELP with prevention from being evicted by your landlord.
6. HELP with grants being available. (One of my clients has already received £25,000.)
NOTE: A grant is non-repayable.
7. HELP with the Government-backed Business Interruption Loan Scheme
NOTE: These need to be paid back and BEWARE that a few banks are still also OBSCENELY requesting Personal Guarantees!
The most authoritative place to find out about the full range of Government measures and the assistance that they are offering you is to go to following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
MAKE SURE YOU GET THE MOST UP-TO-DATE VERSION
In addition, the Big Hospitality website is also offering very good updates on Government help available. Go to this website: https://www.bighospitality.co.uk
POINT THREE – WHAT MORE CAN I DO FOR YOU?
I can help you to understand what is out there for SMEs, how it applies to you, whether it applies to you and what you need to do next.
I can help you though the HR stuff, for example what you need to do to furlough your workers and how, and why, you HAVE TO do that.
I can help you in handling your staff and especially in terms of the different approaches that may be needed depending on the differences in their employment status such as:
Long service (2 yrs +) vs Shorter service
Full Time vs Part Time
Part Time Minimum Guaranteed Hours vs Zero Hours contracts
Did you know that the Government have just relaxed the rules about how long someone needs to have been employed with you, to be able to be Furloughed and for you to be able to get that 80% subsidy?
I can help you with getting a reality check on whether your business CAN realistically survive the economic downturn that has been caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
I can help you with looking over your previous P&L figures to help you to really understand them to gauge how your business REALLY performs in terms of overall PROFITABILITY.
I can help you with planning the re-opening of your business and maybe even getting it re-opened in a better situation as regards overall PROFITABILITY than it was before it closed, thus giving you a better chance of it surviving longer term.
RECAP
I have teamed up with CLH to offer a FREE OF CHARGE service to any Hospitality Business that has been affected by coronavirus shutdown issues. Email me at: davidhunter@bowdengroup.co.uk or call me on 07831 407984. I am available 9 am to 9 pm, seven days a week.
BE STRONG. STAY STRONG !!!
Let’s get through this by working TOGETHER.
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